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257
Cranford
·
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
126
At
first
I
pitied
her,
and
said
‘Poor
pussy!
poor
pussy!’
till,
all
at
once,
I
looked
and
saw
the
cup
of
milk
empty—
cleaned
out!
‘You
naughty
cat!’
said
I,
and
I
believe
I
was
provoked
enough
to
give
her
a
slap,
which
did
no
good,
but
only
helped
the
lace
down—
just
as
one
slaps
a
choking
child
on
the
back.
I
could
have
cried,
I
was
so
vexed;
but
I
determined
I
would
not
give
the
lace
up
without
a
struggle
for
it.
I
hoped
the
lace
might
disagree
with
her,
at
any
rate;
but
it
would
have
been
too
much
for
Job,
if
he
had
seen,
as
I
did,
that
cat
come
in,
quite
placid
and
purring,
not
a
quarter
of
an
hour
after,
and
almost
expecting
to
be
stroked.
‘No,
pussy!’
said
I,
‘if
you
have
any
conscience
you
ought
not
to
expect
that!’
And
then
a
thought
struck
me;
and
I
rang
the
bell
for
my
maid,
and
sent
her
to
Mr
Hoggins,
with
my
compliments,
and
would
he
be
kind
enough
to
lend
me
one
of
his
top-boots
for
an
hour?
I
did
not
think
there
was
anything
odd
in
the
message;
but
Jenny
said
the
young
men
in
the
surgery
laughed
as
if
they
would
be
ill
at
my
wanting
a
top-boot.
When
it
came,
Jenny
and
I
put
pussy
in,
with
her
forefeet
straight
down,
so
that
they
were
fastened,
and
could
not
scratch,
and
we
gave
her
a
teaspoonful
of
current-jelly
in
which
(your
ladyship
must
excuse
me)
I
had
mixed
some
tartar
emetic.
I
shall
never
forget
how
anxious
I
was
for
the
next
half-hour.
I
took
pussy
to
my
own
room,
and
spread
a
clean
towel
on
the
floor.
I
could
have
kissed
her
when
she
returned
the
lace
to
sight,
very
much
as
it
had
gone
down.
Jenny
had
boiling
water
ready,
and
we
soaked
it
and
soaked
it,
and
spread
it
on
a
lavender-bush
in
the
sun
before
I
could
touch
it
again,
even
to
put
it
in
milk.
But
now
your
ladyship
would
never
guess
that
it
had
been
in
pussy’s
inside.”
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